Of the three different options, I would advise the client to choose to use construction management with a guaranteed maximum price as their construction procurement method, rather than design-bid-build or design-build.
Design-bid-build has a stipulated sum which would be useful for the client to know, and the process is linear and familiar to the architect and contractors, but the budget would end up being liable to change for a few reasons. Firstly it would likely change after the design process once contractors and trades become involved. The price would also change as a result of inflation, especially since design-bid-build is one of the slowest construction procurement methods.
The advantages of design-build include the speed at which the project is completed due to the overlap between the design and construction phases. This …show more content…
To control the construction budget I would ask for input from the construction manager especially regarding cost control and later on, value engineering. The construction manager will be more likely to assist in this role as they are also at risk of paying overages if the project goes over budget. On the architect side, it will be useful for the documents to be drawn carefully with divisional cost estimates given throughout the DD and CD phases of the project. During the construction phase, the budget can be controlled even further. Firstly, this can be done by starting construction early, perhaps as design is still going on. The faster work takes place, inflation will have less of an effect on the final cost of the project. If the project does go over budget, the client has no contractual obligations to the design team. According to document 600, in GC1 .2.8, he client is responsible ‘to ensure that the client’s construction budget includes a contingency for cost escalation, design issues in the construction documents and unforeseen circumstances that arise or become apparent during the course of the project’.